View full sizeAsiana Airlines Managers of Asiana Airlines, one of South Korea's two major airlines, believe Northwest companies have enough freight bound for the Far East to support new Portland to Seoul service.

Asiana Airlines executives plan to announce Wednesday that the South Korean carrier will launch freighter flights between Portland and Seoul in September, restoring international air cargo service to PDX.

Wyatt and John Bates, South Korea's honorary consul in Portland, declined to comment on the flights ahead of the announcement. Portland lawyer Bob Donaldson, a former honorary consul for South Korea, noted that Korean Air flew cargo in and out of Portland for several years.

"We always hoped it would blossom into passenger service, but it never did," Donaldson said. Asiana could prompt similar hopes, he said.

International passenger service, however, is a far more expensive and elaborate proposition than cargo flights. Currently Portland is one of only 12 cities in the nation with year-round nonstop passenger service to both Europe and Asia. Delta Air Lines flies between Portland and Tokyo, and between Portland and Amsterdam.

Shippers can send cargo in the bellies of Delta's passenger jets. But Asiana's jumbo freighters have far greater capacity and can carry much larger objects.

Cargo carriers serving Asia and the United States make most of their money on U.S.-bound flights, flying exports to North America. But airline sales reps are eager to find cargo for return flights. Asiana managers have surveyed the Portland market and determined that companies here have enough freight bound for the Far East to support the new service.

Northwest exporters with time-sensitive products will welcome the Asiana service as an alternative to trucking freight as far as Vancouver, B.C., or Los Angeles to catch flights for Asia. Nike, based near Beaverton, ships its U.S.-made air soles to Asian factories by air. Intel sends wafers for test and assembly.

Asiana Airlines, based in Seoul, has more than 70 planes flying domestic and international routes. Its cargo jets fly to Seattle, Anchorage, San Francisco and Los Angeles on the West Coast, and to Chicago, New York and Atlanta.

Asiana is also boosting trans-Pacific passenger service, recently increasing its flights between Seoul and both Seattle and San Francisco to daily frequency. The airline has also added flights to Ho Chi Minh City and Istanbul, and plans to add more Airbus A380s to its fleet.